Exodus 16:1-15
1 The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.
5 "On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days." 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?"
8 And Moses said, "When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord."
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, 'Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.'" 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 12 "I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.'" 13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat."
Can God really set a table in the wilderness? Can God really provide a feast in the desert? Psalm 78:19b
Where We Are
We've journeyed two-thirds of the way through this Year of Grace with our local assembly and together with the the worldwide church catholic.
If you're following the five week long Breadtide segment that covers most of the Bread of Life discourse in John 6, today's reading is John 6:24-34.
This reflection opened with a verse from earlier in Psalm 78 than the portion appointed today as our responsive psalm. It's a long psalm, but how sad the lectionary peeps didn't include verse 19.
Exodus means leaving or departure. You probably know most of the Exodus account about God's people Israel escaping slave labor in Egypt, how they wandered through a series of deserts in total trust of God's provision on their way to the Promised Land; during their trek they received the Ten Words or Commandments of the Sinai Covenant.
Salvation History
Let's talk about Heilsgeschichte! It's a technical German theological term that means salvation history: Heil=salvation, redemption; Geschichte=history. Heilsgeschichte brings together fairly objective, empirical facts with the lived experiences of the people, often with a sense of saga or myth; Heilsgeschichte has a far greater degree of density than the evidence, cause, and effect history we study in school.
Regarding the Exodus narrative, it's very unlikely a huge group of thousands of people left Egypt together in one fell swoop for the promised land under a leader named Moses. However, almost definitely quite a few smaller groups or bands of people escaped harsh conditions of barely surviving under empire and spent quite a lot of time wandering through the desert in trust, relying on God's provision.
The book of Exodus formally got compiled from different written and oral sources after the Babylonian captivity, as a committee put together several discrete narratives. Again, the salvation history of God, people, and creation is far denser than conventional history. It includes saga, myth, meaning, emotion.
Bread from Heaven
At the start of today's reading:
• God's people have left Egypt
• they've passed through the Red Sea-Sea of Reeds
• Moses and Miriam have sung jubilant freedom songs
• Moses has thrown a healthy tree branch into bitter water to sweeten the waters at Marah
In Genesis we mostly encounter the people of God as a family that in our terminology grows from nuclear to extended; you remember the stories of patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in Genesis. Exodus is about identity-formation as God's people become a nation, a constituted people. The Ten Words or Commandments of the Sinai Covenant become the touchstone of their identity.
Today's text includes bread of Egypt that was counted, stockpiled, all administrated up. In our world, bread/food of empire even contains preservatives, it will last almost forever, and in general it isn't particularly healthy or life-giving. This Exodus passage contrasts breads and foods of Egypt/empires with the freedom bread and other types of sustenance God provides as gifts of grace.
Whether four thousand years ago or right here and now in 2024, freedom bread is healthy and life-giving; it doesn't stay fresh very long, so there's no point in stockpiling or hoarding it. A friend mentioned a grocery store employee told him they got a whole lot more bugs when they began bringing in and selling more organic food; read the rest of Exodus16 and find out what happened when the people tried to save some manna for later!
Manna is a semitic word asking "what is it?" The manna itself might have been cilantro/coriander; it could have been tamarisk. Scripture and church talk about the Kingdom of God, Reign of Heaven, Kingdom of Heaven, Reign of God. Here we read about the Rain of God, as God rains nutritious food from the sky!
Can God really set a table in the wilderness? Can God really provide a feast in the desert? Psalm 78:19b
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